16 Years To Life In Shooting Of Married Long Island Couple's Home

LONG ISLAND, NY — The defense attorney for a Long Island man, who was sentenced 16 years to life in prison on Wednesday for shooting into the home of a married couple, says he expects an appeal will be filed in the case by the end of the week related to "exculpatory material that will come to light."

Jerry McKoy, 58, of Patchogue, was convicted of second-degree assault and first-degree burglary in 2000, and again in connection with the shooting, on May 16, 2025, on charges of two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment.

District Attorney Ray Tierney said that since taking office, he has "made it clear" that people who commit violent crime in Suffolk will face serious consequences, and McKoy's sentence "is another step in keeping that commitment."

“This defendant recklessly fired into the home of an innocent couple, endangering lives, and threatening the safety of our community," he said. "Such acts erode the sense of security that our residents deserve, and they will not be tolerated.”

McKoy's attorney, Chase Brown of Central Islip, told Patch that while his client "respects the sentence," he "looks forward to the appeals process where he is confident his innocence will come to light and the truth brought forward.”

Brown, who does not undertake appeals work, will not be representing McKoy in the appeals process, but said that another attorney will be assigned to the case.

In the early morning hours of April 11, 2024, McKoy got into a fight with a woman over money inside of his car on Hickory Road in Mastic Beach., and when the woman got out, he began searching for her on the property of a house that he believed she went into, prosecutors said.

He then knocked on the door but when nobody answered, he went back into his vehicle, took out a loaded semi-automatic handgun and fired two shots into the home, prosecutors said, adding that the house he shot into was not the woman’s but that of a 78- year-old man and his 66-year-old wife who were not injured in the shooting.

The police recovered a 9MM caliber projectile in the couple’s living room the following morning, according to prosecutors.

After the shooting, investigators used several advanced investigative tactics to identify McKoy as the shooter, which led to his arrest, prosecutors said.